By: John Murphy

His inspirational leadership in West Waterford Golf Club’s historic first Munster Senior Cup final triumph over Douglas of Cork, has given twenty seven year old Dungarvan man Mark Shanahan the Park Hotel Waterford Sport Star Of The Month accolade for August.

Mark is the eldest member of the West Waterford team that reached the Bulmers Irish Senior Cup final in Tullamore last Saturday losing bravely to a more experienced Galway in the decider. The average age of the five man team in fact is just twenty, making it the youngest—by the proverbial distance—-in the championship.

His fellow team members are Philip Spratt, Gary Hurley—the “baby’’ of the side at just 17—-David Curran, and Philip Walsh who replaced international star Seamas Power last weekend because of his inability to get release from his university commitments in the United States.

In guiding West Waterford to provincial glory Mark Shanahan won all of his five matches, and this individual brilliance by him played a major role in his club’s famous title win.

Defending Munster champions Castletroy of Limerick— -they were seeking a hat trick of wins—-were mastered in the semi-final, and then against virtually all the odds West Waterford mastered Douglas of Cork in the final. Tramore are the only other Waterford club to have won this Munster senior title since its inception in 1941 and the last of their four title wins was in 2004. Formed in 1993 West Waterford have now become the youngest club ever to win the provincial senior cup.

Presenting the monthly award to Mark, the managing director of the Park Hotel, Pierce Flynn, said Mark had led his team by example and had fashioned another outstanding victory in the comparatively young history of a club that has already won three national youths championships in four memorable seasons.

Fr. Pat Moiran OSA, chairman of the adjudicating committee, said Mark was winning the 224th award since the inception of the scheme, and ten of those awards had gone to the sport of golf. Mark Shanahan, he went on, had gone unbeaten right through the all conquering Munster campaign and had been a true leader in every sense. “He is a very deserving winner of the monthly award’’, Fr. Moran added.

Kieran O’Connor, also a member of the adjudicating panel, said that for such a young team to prove itself the best in Munster was a “phenomenal’’ achievement. He spoke of the contribution of the Spratt family in founding the West Waterford club and the remarkable progress that had been made in just sixteen years in existence.

Other speakers included John Carroll, the successful West Waterford team manager and Martin Shanahan the award winner’s father who said he felt a great sense of pride that his son had now joined the ranks of all the sporting greats who had won monthly awards in the twenty years the prestigious scheme has been in place.

Replying the award winner said he never dreamt that one day he to would win a Park Hotel award but it was down to the efforts of all members of the winning West Waterford team and he was accepting it on their behalf as well as on his own. Also present at the function were Mark’s winning team colleagues Philip Spratt, Gary Hurley, David Curran and Philip Walsh, along with Pat and Nora Spratt of the West Waterford club the award winner’s mother Margaret, and John A. Murphy, adjudicator.